The Activist

// The Online Magazine of the Young Democratic Socialists //

Archive for the ‘Theory’ Category

Poorly Defined: A Personal Reflection on the Fluid Meaning of Socialism the in US Presidential Election and Beyond

By YDS • Oct 27th, 2008 • Category: Theory

By David Duhalde
In between job hunting and settling into my new apartment in Somerville, Massachusetts, I watch copious amounts of mainstream news cycles about the presidential election. While far away from my radical political circles in New York City, I still hear about socialism via attacks launched by the sinking GOP presidential ticket and […]



Every Man a King: Reconnecting Marx, Democracy and Humanism - Part IV

By Bhaskar Sunkara • Jun 18th, 2008 • Category: Theory

This article is the final installment of a four-part series. Enjoy!

The Alienation of Capitalists? How Capital Victimizes the Capitalists

As touched upon previously, in the Communist Manifesto Marx spends far more time than do modern anti-capitalists praising the achievements of capitalism. The bourgeoisie, in Marx’s estimation, has progressed humanity far further than any other ruling […]



Every Man a King: Reconnecting Marx, Democracy and Humanism - Part III

By Bhaskar Sunkara • Jun 11th, 2008 • Category: Theory

This article is the third installment of a four-part series. Come back next week to read Part IV. Enjoy!
The Alienation of Labor and the Humanism of Marx

In his early writings Karl Marx spends an enormous amount of time examining the effects of capitalism on the individual. Throughout his 1844 Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts in […]



Every Man a King: Reconnecting Marx, Democracy and Humanism - Part II

By Bhaskar Sunkara • May 30th, 2008 • Category: Theory

This article is the second installment of a four-part series. Come back next week to read Part III. Enjoy!

How “Free Enterprise” Enslaves the Individual

An Overview of the Nature of the Capitalist Mode of Production

In order to discuss what real socialism is we must first examine the injustice, exploitation and alienation that permeates throughout […]



Every Man a King: Reconnecting Marx, Democracy and Humanism - Part I

By Bhaskar Sunkara • May 23rd, 2008 • Category: Theory

This article is the first installment of a four-part series. Come back next week to read Part II. Enjoy!
i. An Introduction

Winston Churchill’s famous diatribe, “The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries,” is firmly entrenched in the psyche of the […]



Why the Left Needs an Economic Justice Agenda Now

By Guest Author • Feb 12th, 2008 • Category: Theory

[The text is a slight revision of remarks given to the annual convention of the Democratic Socialists of America’s New York City local on Oct. 13, 2007 at Judson Memorial Church.]
Addressing a rally at the old Madison Square Garden at the tail end of his first presidential re-election campaign, Franklin Roosevelt caught the ethic of […]



Socialize the Knicks

By Guest Author • Jan 17th, 2008 • Category: Theory

Growing up, politics and social justice were always in the background of my life. They, however, weren’t the most important things for me as an elementary school student. One of my biggest loves growing up was professional basketball, especially the New York Knicks. Although the Knicks never won a championship, I cannot count the […]



Socialism, Ascetic and Epicurean

By Peter • Dec 2nd, 2007 • Category: Theory

As political philosophies go, socialism has more than its share of historical baggage, competing incompatible versions, and popular misperceptions. So most socialists eventually give in to temptation, and tack on an adjective before “socialist”, to clarify what they mean by the word. Some might say that it’s a waste of time to argue over what […]



Activist Manifesto

By YDS • Dec 2nd, 2007 • Category: Theory

Culture. Consciousness. Critical Thought.
We are the activist.
In the late 1990s, Left youth activism emerged from a stumbling stupor to showcase a passionate, creative movement of young people. […]



The Battle for Straight Time

By Peter • Nov 2nd, 2007 • Category: Theory

In a previous post, I noted that Michael Moore’s “SiCKO” is not just a film about health care, but a full-blown argument for European-style social democracy. Ezra Klein makes the same point in an LA Times editorial, where he zeroes in on a subject dear to my heart: working time.
Klein notes that Americans get a […]